Former Olympus CEO Michael Woodford: Credit: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Simmons & Simmons has successfully defended ex-Olympus Corporation president Michael Woodford in a High Court case lasting almost a year, over allegations brought by a subsidiary of the Japanese camera maker that he had been involved in pensions irregularities.

Olympus Corporation subsidiary KeyMed, a medical and industrial equipment company, claimed that the defendants – Woodford and his colleague, former director Paul Hillman – had conspired to maximise their own pension benefits while acting as trustees of the company's pension scheme, to the detriment of the wider organisation and its employees, breaching their duty of care.

KeyMed turned to Fieldfisher and Wilberforce Chambers' John Wardell QC, Andrew Mold and Tim Matthewson for advice.

They argued that between 2004 and 2007, Woodford and Hillman failed to account for KeyMed's interests and used their powers "in bad faith" for the "improper purpose of improving their own personal position".

Woodford joined KeyMed in 1981 and then rose rapidly through the ranks, becoming president and CEO of the parent company in 2011, but was dismissed from the role that same year after he blew the whistle when the company made payments of nearly £1 billion to purported advisers, which were later shown to be fraudulent.

A year later, he brought a £38 million unfair dismissal claim against the company, which Olympus adviser Slaughter and May helped settle out of court.

As part of the KeyMed case, Fieldfisher sought evidence from Slaughters partner Ewan Brown, who is a longstanding adviser to parent company Olympus – and acted alongside it in the two-year Serious Fraud Office investigation that followed Woodford's allegations.

In the current case, Simmons – which brought in Brick Court Chambers heavyweights Simon Salzedo QC, Paul Newman QC and Stephen Midwinter QC – convinced the court that Woodford and Hillman had not acted dishonestly.

In a judgment handed down yesterday (March 11), the judge, Mr Justice Marcus Smith, concluded there was no improper conduct and, though there were certain failings in the establishment of the company's executive pension scheme, there was no evidence the pair had acted dishonestly.

Woodford has used regular adviser Simmons for a number of years. He is particularly close with the law firm after becoming a member of its board in 2014.